China Telecom has reported a 10% year-on-year surge in its net profits, which touched US$2.64 billion (RMB 16.2 billion) in the quarter ending September 2014.

The improved profits are on account of higher subscribers for the company’s fixed-line broadband and 3G-4G services. Recently, there has been a double-digit dip in handset subsidies, which has led to cost savings for the company. Aside from that, the Chinese government, in 2013, revised interconnection fees, which has proven favorable to the company’s cost saving efforts.

According to the financial statements of the company, its operating revenues saw a spike of 2.2%, YoY, nearing US$39.8 billion (RMB 244 billion). This happened because of higher revenues from the 3G service domain. Fixed broadband services continued to grow, contributing substantially to the improved profits of China Telecom. According to the carrier, it added well over 16 million new subscribers to its 3G subscriber base. At the end of September 2014, the company boasted a total 3G user base of 113 million.

However, the number of subscriber additions fell short of expectations. The company’s sales of mobile terminals slid by nearly 17% YoY, dropping to US$3.8 billion (RMB 23.3 billion).

At the same time, the company reported an increase in costs – especially under network operations maintenance projects. The total costs surged by 24.4% as compared to the same time last year. The company has been spending aggressively on improving the quality of its networks. The company reported that amortization and depreciation came down by nearly 5% as the company successfully sealed the acquisition of CDMA assets from its parent company.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "E-Clinical Solution Software Market- Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2014 - 2020," the global microfluidic device market was valued at USD 3,005 million in 2014 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.8% from 2014 to 2020, to reach an estimated value of USD 6,515.3 million in 2020.

Globally, the e-clinical solution software market is witnessing significant growth due to increasing clinical trials and R&D investments in pharmaceuticals and life science. Increasing prevalence of diseases supports clinical trials in different regions. Various lifestyle associated diseases and genetic disorders in the Middle East and North African countries have also enhanced clinical trials in the respective regions. In addition, the pharmaceutical industry is facing immense pressure to reduce the time consumed during clinical trials and to raise the productivity of drugs. Presence of various end users such as pharmaceuticals, clinical research organizations (CRO) and healthcare providers has increased the acceptance of e-clinical solution software. The global e-clinical solution software market is estimated at USD 3,005 million in 2014. It is likely to grow at a CAGR of 13.8% from 2014 to 2020 to reach USD 6,515.3 million in 2020.

North America is a traditional clinical trial region. The average cost of pharmaceutical research and development for a successful drug continues to increase from pre-clinical stage i.e. initial development stage of drug till FDA approval i.e. drug is launched in market. According to Oracle Corporation, an e-clinical software company, the percentage share of global clinical trials conducted in North America has reduced from 30% in 2006 to 19% in 2010. This was due to regulatory and legal considerations, which shifted the clinical trial market from North America to developing countries such as India and China. This may lead to sluggish growth of clinical trials in the region.

In Europe, Countries in Central and Eastern Europe provide abundant opportunities to life science companies for clinical development. According to Oracle Corporation, the percentage of clinical trials conducted in Western Europe has decreased from 25% to 19% and in Eastern Europe, the percentage has increased from 10% to 13% during 2006-2010. Similarly, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health (Clinical Trial government registry), the clinical trials conducted in Europe were 46,192 in May 2014.

However, Asia has become one of the fastest-growing markets for pharmaceutical products. Improved industry regulatory laws and patent expiration laws in various countries including Japan, China and India, have led to the expansion of the clinical trials market inAsia. Asia has lower cost of conducting clinical trials compared to Europe or the U.S.

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

The Vietnamese Prime Minister, during his visit to India, has signed a string of agreements in the defense sector and the oil sector. As part of the agreement, India will now supply Vietnam with naval vessels. The deals also relate to securing oil exploration rights from the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. The oil exploration agreement is located in the South China Sea, which has been a bone of contention among China and Vietnam for many years now. Market analysts expect that these deals could likely cause a stir in China, which is reportedly watching deals between the two countries closely.

The agreements were announced during the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s visit to India, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured his counterpart that his government would rapidly ‘operationalize’ a credit line to the tune of US$100 million that had been established, when Pranab Mukherjee, the Indian president had visited Hanoi earlier in September 2014.

India will now sell four ships (offshore patrol) to Vietnam. The country will also undertake training programs and exercises for the military forces in Vietnam, a leading Indian daily – the Economic Times – reported.

Currently, a number of Southeast Asian nations are engaged in territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea – a rapidly emerging world power. The agreements between India and China have now made market watchers curious about what China’s next move is going to be. This is the first time in the history of India and Vietnam that the two countries have made an active effort to expand their military ties.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Endoscopy Devices Market (Endoscopes, Endoscopic Operative Devices, and Visualization Systems) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013-2019" the global endoscopy devices market was valued at USD 24.9 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% from 2013 to 2019, to reach an estimated value of USD 36.9 billion in 2019.

Endoscopy procedures are performed by inserting rod shaped telescope and specialized instruments through small incisions in the body. These procedures can be diagnostic as well as operative, and are explored for various areas of surgery including gastrointestinal, urological, ENT, cardiovascular and joint surgeries. As these are minimally invasive procedures, they provide various advantages over open surgeries such as reduced blood loss, reduced chances of infection, shorter hospital stay, and quick recovery. Due to these advantages, the adoption of endoscopy is increasing rapidly; especially in the field of oncology.

An endoscopy system comprises of an endoscope, visualization system (which includes the camera, control unit, illumination devices, image processing devices, and display) and various specialized operative instruments (which include energy systems, internal closure devices, irrigation systems, and others). An endoscope that is rigid, finds applications in arthroscopy and laparoscopies and flexible endoscopes have application in gastrointestinal, urology and other systems where rigid endoscope may not reach. Modern endoscopes called as videoscopes have a "chip-on-tip" which deliver better image quality and are more durable. Fiberoptic endoscopes are fragile and delicate, hence get damaged easily. This is a major driver for videoscopes market and the technology is expected to replace fiberoptic and rod-lens systems in the near future. Consistent technological advances have added new products to the market and expanded boundaries of the endoscopy devices market. Capsule endoscopes and robot assisted endoscopes have revolutionized the endoscopy market.

The capsule shaped devices possess built-in camera unit and wireless transmission system which delivers high quality images to external receiver as they pass through the gastrointestinal tract. The device has made diagnosis of gastrointestinal tract more efficient as the capsule is able to deliver images for intestinal areas where flexible endoscope cannot reach. Given Imaging (acquired by Covidien) accounts for about 85% of the global capsule endoscopy market share. Other key players in the capsule endoscopy market include Olympus, IntroMedic and Jinshan Medical. Intuitive Surgical leads the robot assisted endoscopy market with its flagship Da Vinci surgical system. Other companies making their mark in the robot assisted endoscopy market include Endo Control, Inc., Olympus, Meere Company, Inc., MAKO Surgical and Titan Medical, Inc. Visualization systems have been a prominent area of technological advancements.

The development of chromoendoscopy has added another dimension to the evolving market of endoscopy. Three dimensional (3D) camera systems have improved the depth perception and hence reduced errors during surgery and which has further reduced the overall surgery time. Endoscopic ultrasound devices now allow doctors to effectively diagnose intestinal tract, which might be difficult to diagnose otherwise with traditional ultrasound devices. As the ultrasound device is close to the organ as, the images obtained are more accurate giving better examination of the intestinal tract.

Although various merits are propelling the endoscopy devices market, some factors impede the acceptance of several endoscopic devices. Prominent among these factors is the high cost of latest technology devices, which has delayed the penetration of these products in developing countries. Lack of skilled professionals is also a major concern for the market to develop. Considering various market dynamics, companies are eying Asian countries which mainly include India, China, and Japan for lucrative opportunities in future. Rapidly developing economic condition, improving healthcare sector, available disposable income, and large consumer base in emerging economies such as India, China, Brazil and South-East Asia due to high prevalence of diseases will drive the endoscopy devices market in these countries.

Transparency Market Research is a global market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

The
dates for the ChinaBio Partnering Forum 2015 are out. According to
latest news reports, the premier partnering and networking event for
companies in the life sciences sector will be held in Shanghai on
April 22 and 23. The location is appropriate in that over 1,000 life
science companies have operations in Shanghai, one of the largest
cities in the world.

According
to the organizers of the event, nearly 848 delegates from 25
countries, representing over 425 companies, were in attendance at the
2014 event. This has made the ChinaBio Partnering Forum one of the
latest of its kind in not just China, but the world at large.

Aside
from biotech and pharmaceuticals companies, a number of research
institutes, universities, and researchers will be attending the event
in April next year, many of whom will evaluate their options of
investing in the rapidly-growing healthcare sector in China.

China
currently ranks as the second largest market for healthcare
worldwide. It is expected that China will emerge as the leader in the
healthcare market worldwide by 2020, opined the founder of the
ChinaBio Group, Greg Scott.

According
to an analysis by the organizers of ChinaBio Partnering Forum, nearly
35% of the attendees in the previous events were composed of c-level
executives. About 65% of these hailed from China. In the event held
in 2013, nearly 135 firms announced partnerships with Chinese firms,
generating value surpassing US$1.6 billion.

This
sea change has largely occurred because of the emergence of the
middle class in China, which has led to a surge in the demand for
high-quality healthcare in the private and public domain.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Intelligent Virtual Assistant Market (By Technology - Text-to-Speech, Speech Recognition; By End User - Individual Users, Small and Medium Enterprise Users, Large Enterprise Users) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2019," the market was valued atUSD 352.0 million in 2012 and is expected to reach USD 2,126.4 million by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 30.6% from 2013 to 2019.

North America was the largest contributor to the global intelligent virtual assistant market in 2012, which accounted for 39.6% share of the overall intelligent virtual assistant market. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing market for intelligent virtual assistant during the forecast period, growing at a CAGR of 32.2% from 2013 to 2019. This is mainly due to the increased focus on technological investments and proliferation of mobile devices in Asia Pacific region.

Today, intelligent virtual assistants are the new breeds of mobility solutions and business communication. Virtual assistants are increasingly entering the mobility market in order to increase business productivity. The fundamental problem faced by customers interacting with online websites of customers is the inability to find answers to their questions. Usage of next generation self service technology such as intelligent virtual assistants helps in improving the customer engagement service issues online.

There are two major types of technologies used in intelligent virtual assistants, namely, text-to-speech technology and speech recognition technology. Among these two technologies, speech recognition is the most popular technology as it provides the feature of interactive and intuitive communication. The end users of intelligent virtual assistants include individual users, small and medium enterprises, and large enterprises. Large enterprise users are increasingly displaying confidence to accept intelligent virtual assistants as the solution for their business requirements.

North America led the virtual intelligent market in 2012, followed by Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing regional market for intelligent virtual assistants, expected to grow at a CAGR of 32.2% during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019. This is mainly due to the increasing investment in customer relationship management in large, medium and small enterprises.

The report studies the global intelligent virtual assistant market and provides estimates in terms of revenue (USD Million) from 2013 to 2019. Market estimates are provided on the basis of technology, end users and geography.

The global intelligent virtual assistant market has been segmented as follows:

Intelligent Virtual Assistant, by Technology

Text-to-speech

Speech recognition and natural language understanding

Intelligent Virtual Assistant, by End Users

Individual users

Small and medium enterprise users

Large enterprise users

Intelligent Virtual Assistant, by Geography

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Rest of the World

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Medical
devices are the latest to be affected by cyber security flaws, it is
emerging. The United States Department of Homeland Security is
conducting investigations to verify if hospital equipment and medical
devices that could be vulnerable to hacking. A senior official at the
US Dept of Homeland Security told news agencies that they were in the
process of reviewing Medtronic’s and St. Jude Medical’s
implantable heart devices and an infusion pump model manufactured by
Hospira. These reviews, sources close to the matter said, were being
conducted by the Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response
Team that works under the aegis of the US Dept of Homeland Security.

The
people, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that it was too
early to overstate the threats imposed by hackers of medical devices.
Officials stated that they were not yet aware of any instances where
hackers have cracked medical devices to attack patients.

However,
the agency is taking every precaution to identify loop holes and seal
them given that the possibility of hackers gaining remote control of
the devices to compromise the health of patients cannot entirely be
ruled out. Hackers could act in very dangerous ways, such as
programming an infusion pump to cause a drug overdose in a patient.

A
senior official from the US DHS said that the agency was
collaborating with manufacturers to spot and repair any cracks and
software bugs in medical devices. This, the official opined, would
help in keeping confidential patient data secure and prevent any
attacks on hospital equipment. The official, however, did not name
the companies they were working with. This review does not imply any
wrongdoing on the part of the companies whose medical devices are
being reviewed. It merely indicates that the government agency is
working with these entities to address and resolve problems.

According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research "Homeland Security Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2013 - 2020," the global homeland security market was valued at USD 245.72 billion in 2013, growing at a CAGR of 5.6% from 2014 to 2020 to account for USD 364.44 billion in 2020.

The major factor driving the growth of homeland security market is several government initiatives undertaken to restrict increasing terrorist threats and cross border insurgency. In addition, rising cases of illegal immigration, drug smuggling and human trafficking is compelling the governments of various countries to invest heavily in procurement of homeland security products. Growing demand for products and solutions to tackle increasing risks of cyber attacks is also contributing to the growth of this market. Moreover, adoption of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) by various armies for border surveillance is influencing the growth of this category. Some of the government initiatives undertaken to enhance homeland security include Sisfron program undertaken by Brazil, TECS Mod program undertaken by the U.S., and Project Cytoon undertaken by South Africa among others.

On the basis of security type, the homeland security market is categorized into eight segments namely - aviation security, maritime security, border security, critical infrastructure security, cyber security, CBRN security, mass transit security, and others (C3I, public safety, and counter terror intelligence). Cyber security segment was the largest segment and accounted for 39.31% market share globally in 2013. The reason behind is increase in demand for products and solutions to counter the cyber threats globally. The cyber security segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8%.

In 2013, the North America market was the leading regional market for homeland security market. The dominance of North America is due to technological advancement and huge expenditure in defense sector. Replacement of legacy homeland security equipments with modern high-end devices is also driving the growth of homeland security market in the region.

The report provides company market share analysis of the various industry participants. Key players have also been profiled on the basis of company overview, financial overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis, and recent developments in the field of homeland security. Major market participants profiled in this report include Elbit Systems Ltd., Finmeccanica S.p.A, FLIR Systems, Inc., General Dynamics Corporation, Harris Corporation, L-3 Communications Holdings, Inc., Safran S.A., Thales Group, Magal Security Systems Ltd., Raytheon Company, Unisys Corporation, and OSI Systems, Inc. among others.

Homeland security market: By security type

Aviation security

Maritime security

Border security

Critical infrastructure security

Cyber security

CBRN security

Mass transit security

Others

Homeland security market: By geography/Country

North America

U.S

Canada

Mexico

Europe

U.K

Russia

France

Italy

Germany

Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

China

India

Japan

Rest of APAC

Rest of the World

South America

Middle East

Africa

About Us

Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

French telecom major Iliad has given up its pursuit for the purchase of T-Mobile as it gears up to enter the American wireless industry. Initially, Iliad was aggressively trying to purchase T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom (the parent company). An October deadline had been laid down by the management of Iliad to decide on whether or not its initial offer of US$15 billion would be scaled up, or its purchase offer rejected. At US$15 billion, Iliad would have claimed a 56.6% share in T-Mobile. This will no longer happen, with Iliad dropping its interest in pursuing the deal any further.

Earlier this year, when Sprint had reached the final stages in its acquisition talks with T-Mobile, Iliad announced its offer. When the Sprint deal consecutively fell apart – leading to the stepping down of Dan Hesse, Sprint’s CEO – there were rumors that T-Mobile would be acquired by Iliad. However, those in the know now say that since day one, the Iliad offer was never taken seriously by T-Mobile, as is indicated by the lack of any solid agreement between the two parties. According to a press statement by Iliad, DK and T-Mobile said that they would not take any further bids from Iliad into consideration.

T-Mobile has been
showing steady growth over the last one year, with the increasing popularity of
its program to buy out the contracts of new subscribers. The intention behind
Iliad’s bid was to cut down costs to the tune of nearly US$2 billion if it had
successfully gained T-Mobile’s ownership.